Circular knitting machines



y 25, 1965 J. M. R. REYMES-COLE 3,184,929

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES Filed March 20, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTQR J'OHN MAURICE REYMES REYMES-COLE y flt'r NQYJ y 25, 1965 J. M. R. REYMES-COLE 3,184,929

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES Filed March 20, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 w v 62 8 2 Q 4) a) O o TY 57 0 7O 0 O o r O 63 61 mg? a a9 87 564 68 88 74 Q 58 76 67 FIG.2.

INYENTOR JOHN MAURICE REY/"f5 REYMES-COLE ATTORNEYS I y 25, 1965 I J. M. R. REYMES-COLE I 3,184,929

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES Filed March 20, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 v 23Gw 23b;

2 FIGS. v

NVENTOR 32a JOHN mnumcs REY/MES REYMES-COLE B5 MM ATTORNSYS I May 25, 1965 J. M. R. lEYMES-COLE CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES Filed March 20, 1962 4 Sheets Sheet 4 210 4 22 11 Z 22 Z 26 Z 51 2 E 49 41;; 37 38 28 IIIE 4 INVENTOR JOHN mnumcc REYMES REY/molt ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,184,929 QIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES John Maurice Reymes Eeymes-Cole, 4 Enderhy Road, Blahy, England Filed Mar. 20, 1962, Ser. No. 181,M8 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Mar. 20, I961, 10,664/61 4 Ciaiins. (Cl. 66-50) This invention is for improvements in or relating to circular knitting machines and has for one of its objects to provide a particularly compact and effective form of needle-selecting mechanism.

In accordance with the invention there is provided a circular knitting machine of the independent needle type, having a tricked needle cylinder in which the needles are slidable and having selecting instruments positioned in the tricks of the cylinder to co-operate with the needles, which instruments are provided with operating and selecting butts, means operable on the instruments at a position removed from their ends adjacent to the needles to tilt the instruments in their tricks so as to move the butts outwardly therefrom, selecting means for thereafter depressing selected ones of the instruments back into their tricks by co-operating with the selecting butts thereon, and cam means for acting on the operating butts of instruments not so depressed. This arrangement provides a particularly compact selecting means for the needles, offering a reasonable range of alternative selections and one in which the requisite selecting instruments can be accommodated in a relatively short needle cylinder.

The invention can usefully be employed in connection with any hose or half hose machine and is described herein as applied to a machine of the kind having associated with the needle cylinder a dial cap carrying a dial equipped with welt hooks, such as is commonly used for knitting ladies seamless stockings. With such a machine, using a cylinder of normal dimension, it is possible by the use of the invention to adapt the machine for performance of up to twenty alternative patterning selections used some for wet formation and other for performing tuck-stitch or float-stitch patterning, such as is commonly practised to produce fancy effects in the upper part of the panel of a stocking just below the welt, or mesh [or other patterning in other parts of a stocking. In applying the invention to a knitting machine of this kind, the needle selecting instruments associated with the needles are employed in conjunction with patterning means to determine selectively whether their related needles are caused, or permitted, to have their knitting butts run in the normal knitting cam track or are alternatively permitted or caused to follow a different track in the cam system whereby the related needles will miss knitting at a feed point.

In the convenient form, the needle selecting instruments each consist of an elongated plate for insertion in the bottom end portion of a trick, and having a tail at the end to be lowermost for engagement with a projecting cam. Each selecting instrumentis formed near its tail with an operating butt the lower end of which preferably but not necessarily at an acute angle to the length of the instrument so that when engaged by an operating upthrow FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a circular knitting machine to which the invention is applied,

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged perspective view of patterning mechanism of the machine as seen from the right of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 is a detail perspective view showing a cam ring containing cams for selecting instruments and showing needle cams in association therewith,

FIGURE 4 is-a development view as seen from inside the cam ring showing the cams for the selecting instruments,

FIGURE 5 is a detail cross-sectional view in elevation showing a portion of the bottom part of the needle cylinder and the relation thereto of the instrument projecting cam,

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged underneath view in perspective showing the mounting of the instrument projecting cam,

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the projecting cam,

FIGURE 8 is a detail plan view illustrating the position of the projecting cam beneath the cylinder, and

FIGURE 9 is a detail View in elevation of a selecting instrument.

The invention is illustrated by way of example as applied to a circular knitting machine of the rotary cylinder type having associated with the cylinder at the top thereof a dial cap carrying a dial equipped with welt hooks, as commonly used for knitting ladies stockings. It will be realised however that the invention has application to other forms of circular knitting machines. As shown in FIGURE 1 the machine illustrated is of generally orthodox pattern having a supporting frame It), rotary needle cylinder 11, dial cap 12, sinker mechanism 13,.

control drum 14 and driving gearing 15 all of known construction. Part of the yarn supply bracket is shown at 16 and chain wheels on which a normal patterning chain runs are seen at 17 and 18. The tubular knitted fabric passes into a fabric receiving tube 19 also of known form. Various controls on the machine such as bolt cams and feeders are actuated from the control drum 14 through Bowden cables a group of which can be seen at 20 in FIGURE 1.

The tricked cylinder 11 is equipped with needles the stem of one of which is indicated at 21 in FIGURE 5 having its needle butt indicated at 21a. The needles 21 are slidable in tricks 22 in the cylinder and also slidable in the tricks below the needles 21 are selecting instruments 23 one for each needle. FIGURE 9 shows one of the instruments 23 in detail and it will be seen that it has a tail 24 at its bottom end, an operating butt 25 just above its tail and a row of selecting butts 26. In practice the selecting instrument 23 is formed with a complete succession of equally spaced butts 26 of which there may be up to twenty, sixteen being shown in the example, and those not needed are broken off leaving the required one or more selecting butts 26 for the particular selecting action required for the needle with which the particular instrument 23 is associated. Each selecting instrument is so dimensioned that its width from the butt tips to its back edge is about equal to the depth of cylinder tricks 22 so that each instrument with its butts can be contained in the appropriate trick 22 as shown in FIGURE 5. The tail 24 of a selecting instrument is adapted to be pushed outwards to cause the instruments to rock in the trick 22 about its top back corner 23a FIGURE 9, so as to cause its operation butt 25 and selecting butt or butts 26 to be projected outwardly from its trick 22. When so projected the operating butt 25 is in position to be engaged by a raising cam as later explained.

Reference will now be made to the cam systems for operating the needles 2 1 and the selecting instruments V thereto.

area-e29 23. The machine has a stationary bedplate 27 on which is mountcd a cam ring 28 shown in detail in FIG; 3. The cam ring 28 has a cylindrical cam supporting wall 29 which surrounds the needle cylinder at a spacing therefrom to permit it to support inwardly of its internal surface the cams for operating the needle and instrument butts 21a and 25. The principal needle operating cams can be seen in FIGURE 3 comprising a centre cam 30 and forward and reverse clearing earns 31 and 32, the machine being adapted for knitting heel and toe pouches by reciprocation. The needle cams include also guard cams 33 and. 3- The earns 30, 32, 33 and 34 are mounted on a bracket 35 upstanding from the wall 29 of the cam ring while the cam 31 is mounted on a slide 36 which is movable up and down in guides on the wall 29 so that in forward knitting its function as a clearing cam can be inullified when required. It will be appreciated that the cams 31 and 32 in accordance with the usual procedure also act as stitch drawing cams in reverse and forward knitting respectively and that the needles after performing' knitting in the region of the cams 3th to 34 will be caused to pass on at tucking height after leaving the cam When knitting is performed without patterning the cam 31 be raised to encounter the needle butts and raise the needles from tucking'height to clear them and bring them to a position to receive the yarn. Afterwards the needles will be lowered by the cams 30 and 32 to form the new stitch. When patterning is performed the cam '31 is lowered and the raising of the needles required to knit is performed by different means.

The selecting instruments 23 have associated with them three cams, namely a hump cam for projecting them from the tricks, a raising cam for raising certain of them, and

a depressing cam for returning into the tricks those instruments that have been raised by the raising cam. Within the wall 29 of the cam ring 28.'there is mounted .from below a flanged sleeve 37 which fits within a ring 38 mounted under the cam ring 28, see FIGURE 5. The sleeve 37 fits around the bottom end of the cylinder'll I and above the normal cylinder driving gear shown at 39 having bevel teeth 40 and carried on a sleeve 41 which fits within the lower end of the cylinder 11 and is keyed The gear wheel 39 contains the usual quality pins 42, which may be three in number spaced equally apart on which the bottom-end of the cylinder 11 rests and by which the cylinder may be raised and loweredto a small degree to vary the length of stitches. The gear wheel 39 is formed with a larger than normal recess indicated at '43 which accommodates a radially arranged slide &4- movable' radially in grooves formed in the flange of sleeve 37 and in the ring 38. The inner end of slide 44 projects upwardly at 45, see FIGURE 7, and carries a hump cam 46 forming the instrument projecting carn. The slide 44 is seen in underneath view in FIGURE 6 and has a lateral re-entr-ant opening 47 in which there engages a bent over end of an offset arm 43 on a rod 49 which extends upwardly through the ring 38 and through the cam ring 28 to the upper part of the machine where at a lever on the rod is operated by one of the Bowden cables 20 from the main control drum 14. By means of the Bowden cable the rod'49 can be turned about it axis to cause the hump cam 46 to be moved outwardly to en gage the tails 24 of the instruments 23 or inwardly to miss such tails. The sleeve 37 provides the other cams acting on the instruments and as seen in FIGURES 3 and 4 r it is formed-with an elongated cut out Stl'which extends over a substantial arc of the sleeve. The bottom edge of this cut out has a low level edge at 51, an initial cam rise at 52, followed by a level portion 53 anda further carn rise 54. After the cam rise 54 the bottom edge of the cut out proceeds level up to the end thereof and at this end the thickness of the sleeve is tapered, as shown in FIGURE 4, on its inside faeeso as to provide the cam 55 for depressing into their tricks instruments which have been acted on by the cam rise 54.

plurality of levels of the levers.

It will be seen from FIGURESS and 5 that the lowest part 5]. of the cut out 50 is positioned opposite the hump cam 46 and below the level of the operating butts 25 of instruments 23. Thus when thehump cam is in action it will tilt all of the instruments to project them from their tricks by rocking them about their corners 23a and in so doing cause the operating butts 25 to ride over the low level edge 51. As the cylinder rotates the operating butts will move from right to left as seen in FIGURE 4 and the butts 25 will ride up the cam rise 52 to the level portion 53 and in so doing raise the instruments 23 into contact with the bottoms of the needles 21.. At this stage they will be acted on by patterning mechanism about to be described.

The patterning mechanism comprises a patterning drum 56 rotatably' mounted by means of a central spindle 57 on a bracket plate 58 supported from the bed plate 27, and a set of selecting levers 59rockab1e ona pivot post 60 and associated with the drum 56. As seen in FIGURE Z the selecting levers are arranged in a bank and have arms 61 which project towards the needle cylinder 11, other arms 62 to co-operate with the periphery of the drum 56 and cam portions 63 which co-operate with three blufiing'levers or lobes 64, and 66. These are pivoted on a common spindle carried by a mounting plate 88 on which is also mounted a stop bracket 87 carrying adjustable stop screws 89 against which two of the lobes 64 and 65 are normally urged. The drum 56 carries a rack wheel 67 having associated with it a holding pawl 68 and racking means of orthodox type whichmay be brought into and out of action by means of. a cable connection 69 leading from one of the cables 20 associated with the control drum 14. The patterning drum 56-is conveniently arranged when in action to be racked two spaces during each rotation of the needle cylinder. The drum 56 has circumferential rows of projections to engage with the arms 62 of the: levers 59 such projections being laid out in accordance with the required patterning sequence at the The levers 59 are rocked by individual springs '70 to urge their arms 62 towards the drum 56 so that'when a lever '59 encounters a projection on the drum it is held back thereby and when it encounters a space between projections on the drum it is rocked by its spring 70 to urge the arm 61 towards the needle cylinder 11.

wind0w'72. fl The ends of the ,arms62 of the levers 59 extend into the window 72 at the levels of selecting butts 26 on the instruments 23. There may be up to twenty such selecting butts and a corresponding number of levers at corresponding levels, though sixteen are shown in the construction illustrated. Suchlevers 59 engage projections on the .drum 56 and have the extremities of their arms 61 withheld from projecting through the cut out window 72whilst those which engage in spaces between projections on the drum project throughthe window 72 sufficiently to engage with theselecting butts 26 at that level.

It will now be evident'that during the performance of knitting with patterning thecam 31 will be out of action as a clearing cam and theshump cam 46 moved outwardly to engage all the tails 24 of the. instruments 23. After passing the'hump cam and being projected out of their tricks 22' the instrument 23 will have their operating butts 25 engaged first'by'the camrise 52 serving to lift ments having butts 26 at such levels will be depressed by the levers 59 back into their tricks so that their operating butts 25 will not engage the cam rise 54. Needles associated with such instruments will therefore remain at tucking level in accordance with their normal tracking between successive passages past the knitting point. The other instruments 23, that is those having no selecting butts 26 at any of the levels of the inwardly moved levers 59, will not be depressed into their tricks by the patterning mechanism so that their operating butts 25 will pass up the cam rise 54. This will raise the instruments 23 and also raise the associated needles 21 to bring the needles past clearing height and to the level to receive the new yarn at the knitting point. Such needles will remain at that level until they have passed the knitting point. The instruments 23 which have so raised their needles are depressed back into their tricks by the wedge cam 55, FIGURE 4, acting on their operating butts 25 to press them back into the needle tricks 22. The instruments 23 are brought down to their lowest level in readiness for engagement with the hump cam by the lowering of their associated needles 21 when they pass down the stitch cam 32.

It is advantageous to have the lower edges of the operating butts 25 of the instruments 23 slanted downwardly as shown at 25a at an acute angle to the length of the instruments and also to form the cam rises 52 and 54 of the cut out 50 with a corresponding downward and outward slope so as to resist any tendency for the instruments 23 to become accidentally depressed back into their tricks before they have ridden fully up the cam rises. Similarly it is advantageous to provide that the upper edge 23b of each instrument is slanted at a suitable acute angle to the back edge of the instrument to provide that when the instrument is tilted out of its trick its upper end 23b will engage squarely with the bottom end of the needle stem 21.

It is often desirable to provide for different types of patterning at different parts of an article being knitted. For example in knitting ladies 'hose one type of patterning selection such as 1 x 1 selection is required for forming the welt, while a variable patterning selection is required for providing ornamentation immediately below the welt, and a further patterning selection will be needed if the main part of the stocking is to be knitted in micromesh structure. Provision for three such types of patterning control is made in the machine illustrated by having groups of the levers 59 at different levels used for the respective types of patterning with corresponding lay-outs of projections provided at appropriate levels around the drum 56. The blufling levers or lobes 64, 65 and 66 are used to put the respective groups of the levers out of action when not required, these bluffing lobes co-operating each with a different group of the levers 59 and being rockable about a pivot rod 73 by means of bowden cables 74, 75 and 76 included in the group of cables 20 operated from the control drum 14. The cables 74, 75 and 76 act on lugs on the blufiing levers 64, 65 and 66 to move them clockwise when it is desired to put the appropriate group of levers 59 into action by rocking them away from the stop screws 89. At other times to hold their levers 59 inactive the bluffing levers 64, 65 or 66 are spring urged to engage with the cam portions 63 of the appropriate group of the levers 59 to rock them bodily against the action of their springs 70 away from the needle cylinder 11 so that their arms 61 will not operate to depress the instruments 23 having butts 26 at the levels of such levers, back into their tricks. By co-ordinated control from the control drum 14 it can thus be arranged that different groups of the levers 59 are in action at required different stages in the operation of the machine.

It will be appreciated that the invention is applicable to standard forms of machines with short needle cylinders as commonly used for knitting half-hose or ladies seamless hose. To adapt such a machine for operation in accordance with the invention it is simply necessary to fit the improved selecting instruments in the tricks of the short cylinder below the needle stems and to provide the hump cam 46 for projecting the selecting instruments from the tricks, an upthrow cam such as the cam arrangement 52, 53, 54 to act on the operating butts of selected projecting instruments and the patterning mechanism (and in some cases a bolt cam for acting on the selecting butts 23 of the instruments).

What I claim is:

1. In a circular knitting machine of the independent needle type, the combination comprising a tricked needle cylinder, needles having stems slidable in the tricks of said cylinder, selecting instruments slidable in the tricks of said cylinder to co-operate with the stems of the needles, said instruments consisting each of an elongated plate contained in the bottom end portion of a trick having operating and selecting butts and having a tail at the end remote from the associated needle, a slide, means mounting said slide for movement inwardly and outwardly below said cylinder, means for adjusting said slide, cam means carried on said slide and operable on the tails of the instruments to tilt them in their tricks so as to move their butts outwardly therefrom when said slide is in its outward position, selecting means for thereafter depressing selected ones of the instruments back into their tricks by co-operating with the selecting butts thereon, and cam means for acting on the operating butts of instruments not so depressed to raise such instruments in the cylinder tricks so as to operate the needles.

2. A combination according to claim 1 wherein each of the selecting instruments has its operating butt provided near its tail and formed with its lower edges at an acute angle to the length of .the instrument, and the cam means for acting on such operating butts has a similarly slanted ledge so as to tend to hold the instrument projecting from the trick.

3. In a circular knitting machine of the independent needle type, the combination comprising a needle cylinder formed with tricks, needles slidable in the tricks of said cylinder, selecting instruments slidable in the tricks of the cylinder to co-operate with the needles, said instruments being provided with operating and selecting butts and with tails at their ends remote from the needles, a hump cam positioned below the cylinder for engagement with projecting tails of the selecting instruments, a slide mounting said hump cam for movement outwardly and inwardly into and out of position to engage with said ta ls, a fixed guideway for said slide means for moving said slide along said guideway to bring said hump cam into and out of operative position, selecting means for depressing selected ones of the instruments moved out by the hump cam back into their tricks by co-operating with the selecting butts on the instruments, and cam means for acting on the operating butts of instruments not so depressed to raise such instruments along their tricks.

4. A combination according to claim 3 comprising an operating rod for the slide extending height-wise of the cylinder and having an oflfset arm coupled to the slide.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,797,006 3/31 Lombardi 66-50 2,740,277 4/56 Lombardi 66-50 3,063,269 11/62 Losert et al 66-14 FOREIGN PATENTS 558,651 7/57 Belgium. 1,081,997 5/60 Germany.

526,502 5 5 5 Italy.

RUSSELL C. MADER, Primary Examiner.

DONALD W. PARKER, Examiner. 

3. IN A CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE OF THE INDEPENDENT NEEDLE TYPE, THE COMBINATION COMPRISING A NEEDLE CYLINDER FORMED WITH TRICKS, NEEDLES SLIDABLE IN THE TRICKS OF SAID CYLINDER, SELECTING INSTRUMENTS SLIDABLE IN THE TRICKS OF THE CYLINDER TO CO-OPERATE WITH THE NEEDLES, SAID INSTRUMENTS BEING PROVIDED WITH OPERATING AND SELECTING BUTTS AND WITH TAILS AT THEIR ENDS REMOTE FROM THE NEEDLES, A HUMB CAM POSITIONED BELOW THE CYLINDER FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH PROJECTING TAILS OF THE SELECTIONG INSTRUMENT, A SLIDE MOUNTING SAID HUMP CAM FOR MOVEMENT OUTWARDLY AND INWARDLY INTO AND OUT OF POSITION TO ENGAGE WITH SAID TAILS, A FIXED GUIDEWAY FOR SAID SLIDE MEANS FOR MOVING SAID SLIDE ALONG SAID GUIDEWAY TO BRING SAID HUMP CAM INTO AND OUT OF OPERATIVE POSITION, SELECTING MEANS FOR DEPRESSING SELECTED ONES OF THE INSTRUMENTS MOVED OUT BY THE HUMP CAM BACK INTO THEIR TRICKS BY CO-OPERATING WITH THE SELECTING BUTTS ON THE INSTRUMENTS, AND A CAM MEANS FOR ACTING ON THE OPERATING BUTTS OF INSTRUMENTS NOT SO DEPRESSED TO RAISE SUCH INSTRUMENTS ALONG THEIR TRICKS. 